Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher will be teaching a
class at UCLA next quarter through the Honors Collegium.
Christopher was secretary of state under Democratic President
Bill Clinton during his first term as president from 1993 to 1997.
The class will concentrate on nine international hot spots.
The hot spots include North and South Korea, Colombia and Sudan.
Each session will include two student presentations, with one
student arguing for each side, followed by a group discussion.
Presentations will be turned into analytical essays.
As an honors collegium class, it will be open to students from
all fields, but the class will be restricted to 18 juniors and
seniors who complete a one-page essay about themselves and their
interest in the course.
In a statement, Christopher explained why he wanted to
teach.
“I wanted to find a way to be in touch with the views and
attitudes of talented young people,” he said.
Third-year history student Alejandro Sanchez said Christopher
would have an insightful perspective as a political insider.
Second-year Matt Datlow, a biochemistry student and
self-described liberal Republican, said he was disappointed that
the course will only accept upperclassmen.
“I don’t like that too much … It’s kind of
biased because I would want to take it,” Datlow said.
Second-year Jared Zack said he was concerned that the class
might not be worth the effort.
“I’m not too interested in it. I don’t know if
I’d want to dedicate a whole quarter on it. I don’t
really know how good a Secretary of State would be as a
professor,” Zack said.
However, fourth-year Lisa Alberta said that she learned more
from campaign strategist Dan Schnur than from any professor when
she took his class. Schnur was a guest professor at the University
of California, Berkeley when Alberta was taking classes there.
Alberta, who described herself as conservative, said she would
be very interested in taking Christopher’s class even though
his relatively liberal political views aren’t similar to
hers.
“I want to hear what everyone has to say. We have a lot to
learn,” Alberta said.
Many students, even underclassmen, said preventing freshmen and
sophomores from enrolling is a way to ensure only motivated people
use this opportunity.
Prat Panda, a first-year psychobiology student, said he would be
interested in taking the class and supported the restriction.
“Sophomores and freshmen don’t seem as tuned into
the world. They’re still in their high-school bubble,”
Panda said.
Geoff Garrett, vice provost of international studies at UCLA,
and Jennifer Wilson, assistant vice provost of honors programs, are
partly responsible for bringing Christopher to UCLA.
“The course developed from conversations and e-mails that
I exchanged with Vice Provost Geoff Garrett and Jennifer Wilson,
and they encouraged me to do it,” Christopher said.
The small class size and requirements were implemented to help
make the class more intimate for students.
“This is incredibly generous for Warren Christopher to be
willing to do this,” Garrett said.
For students interested in taking the course, the one-page essay
will be due Nov. 25 at 4 p.m. in the honors office at Murphy Hall
A311.